Texas Rangers Blog

C.J. Wilson prepared to pitch against Rangers, just not Sunday

TEMPE, Ariz. — For a moment, C.J. Wilson dropped his guard and sounded wistful about the Rangers.

“I consider a lot of guys on that team close friends,” Wilson said. “We went through a lot together. You do that when you spent 10 or 11 years anywhere. It was friendship and other stuff, not just baseball stuff.”

On to the new reality. The divorce of left-hander Christopher John Wilson and the Rangers goes into full effect Sunday.

The monotony of spring training has given way to an interesting weekend for the American League West. The defending AL champion Rangers meet their most bulked-up division rival, the Los Angeles Angels, for their only meetings this month. The clubs played at the Rangers’ park in Surprise on Saturday and will be at the Angels’ digs Sunday.

Story lines for the season are being unveiled. They will not include Wilson pitching against his former team. That can wait until the regular season.

Rather than face the Rangers, Wilson will pitch six innings in a minor league game on a remote field at his team’s complex. Angels manager Mike Scioscia insisted the switch, which many clubs do, had nothing to do with hiding Wilson from the Rangers or concern about fallout from his misguided Twitter prank of former teammate Mike Napoli.

Wilson and the Rangers eventually will meet. He could make as many as six starts against them in the regular season. Wilson put on his cooler-than-cool face when discussing the possibility. It will not be personal, he said.

“They’re the American League champions,” Wilson said. “That’s the team you have to beat. They’re in our division. That’s who we have to beat.”